Sidney Hook speaking at the opening session of the Congress for Cultural Freedom in Berlin on June 26, 1950. The second day of the conference featured a panel on “Science and Totalitarianism.” Image: cia.gov
The word “science” typically evokes epistemic ambitions to explore the fundamental laws of the natural world. This is the stuff of philosophical reflection and documentary specials—and it is unquestionably important. This ethereal vision of science appears starkly divorced from the messy fray of “politics,” however you might want to understand the term.
Yet consider two other central features of today’s science: it is élite, and it is expensive. By élite, I do not mean that only certain sorts of people – the “right sorts” – have the capacity to do science. What I mean is that you cannot just pick up and decide today that you are going to be a scientist. It requires years, even decades, of training in the methods and practices of inquiry; consulting a scientist means that you are obligated to turn to someone who has already undergone that process. You do science with the scientists you have, regardless of whether they are socially or politically agreeable to you.
More here.
Freedom’s Laboratory: The Cold War Struggle for the Soul of Science
Audra J. Wolfe
Johns Hopkins University Press, $29.95 (cloth)
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